Congratulations! You made it! You survived and excelled in your student teaching. You are now a science teacher! If you would, take a few minutes to share your wisdom about how to negotiate this difficult year with the students who are following in your footsteps by answering the following questions.
a. What are some things students should do in their fall practicum to make their student teaching go more smoothly? The most important preparation you can have is to know where you stand on things.By this I mean you need to set up some rules for classroom behavior and management.While you will likely follow your CT’s classroom rules, you still need to provide a structured set of rules that your students know you will follow.
b. What 430 topics/assignments should students make sure are addressed in detail to prepare them for student teaching? The most important thing to pay attention to is management strategies, no one walks into a classroom and has it all figured out day one.If you can control your classroom however the other stuff all will develop smoothly.
c. Help the next group of science education student teachers by completing the thought: "If I knew in September what I know now, I could have done a better job during student teaching if I had ...." Started all my classes by letting the students know my rules and expectations for classroom conduct.I was blessed in that I had two CT’s who liked to leave the room often this made my job more challenging yet the lessons learned where invaluable.I now realize that students will feel you out to find out how much they can get away with from day one and if you let it go they will just get worse searching for your “line.”So day one let them know where the line is and what happens if they cross it and the most important bit of advise is don’t ever threaten a punishment that you are not planning on implementing.
d. Are there other words of wisdom/encouragement that you want to share? Relax while student teaching is just as much work as we make it sound it is also a lot of fun and the best learning experience you will ever be involved with.Student teaching is hard because it is worth it.Remember it is your CT’s classroom and while they are there your life will be easy but be sure to take risks if they never leave you alone in the room politely ask them to. When they do, you will see your job will be a little harder but the lessons learned will help you be a better teacher.
a. What are some things students should do in their fall practicum to make their student teaching go more smoothly?
The most important preparation you can have is to know where you stand on things. By this I mean you need to set up some rules for classroom behavior and management. While you will likely follow your CT’s classroom rules, you still need to provide a structured set of rules that your students know you will follow.
b. What 430 topics/assignments should students make sure are addressed in detail to prepare them for student teaching?
The most important thing to pay attention to is management strategies, no one walks into a classroom and has it all figured out day one. If you can control your classroom however the other stuff all will develop smoothly.
c. Help the next group of science education student teachers by completing the thought: "If I knew in September what I know now, I could have done a better job during student teaching if I had ...."
Started all my classes by letting the students know my rules and expectations for classroom conduct. I was blessed in that I had two CT’s who liked to leave the room often this made my job more challenging yet the lessons learned where invaluable. I now realize that students will feel you out to find out how much they can get away with from day one and if you let it go they will just get worse searching for your “line.” So day one let them know where the line is and what happens if they cross it and the most important bit of advise is don’t ever threaten a punishment that you are not planning on implementing.
d. Are there other words of wisdom/encouragement that you want to share?
Relax while student teaching is just as much work as we make it sound it is also a lot of fun and the best learning experience you will ever be involved with. Student teaching is hard because it is worth it. Remember it is your CT’s classroom and while they are there your life will be easy but be sure to take risks if they never leave you alone in the room politely ask them to. When they do, you will see your job will be a little harder but the lessons learned will help you be a better teacher.